Comparative Study on Korean and Chinese The Man in Bird Feather Clothes Folktales

This study compares the Korean and Chinese The Man in Feather Clothes to analyze the growth of man, the help of woman, the meaning of the ability required of man, woman’s assistance, and the establishment of an ideal male-female community. First, I focus on the 19th and 39th episodes of The Man in Feather Clothes in Korea and China respectively. The commonalities and differences were examined under three motifs: A. “The male marries a pretty female,” B. “The female is stolen by a powerful person,” and C. “The male recovers the female using the bird feather clothes.” Subsequently, I discuss male growth and female assistance. Korean folktales emphasize the activeness of the female protagonists, and pay attention to the act of male protagonists violating a taboo. On the other hand, Chinese folktales tend to ignore the act of vilating a taboo and emphasize the activeness of the male protagonist. In both folktales, the male and female protagonists make contact with the “power of nature” through bird feather clothes, and in Korean folktales, an ideal male protagonist image according to Confucian ideology is presented, whereas in Chinese folktales, a shamanic character is emphasized. They all subverted power and violence by borrowing the “power of nature” and beinging it into human society. In addition, it is noted that women’s assistance in the folktales of the two countries have an effect of subverting power beyond simple roles in the home, and women’s right to speak has the meaning of social participation and challenge to power. Furthermore, it also shows the ideal form of the male and female community. In the tales of The Man in Feather Clothes of the two countries, it is emphasized that women’s voices go beyond simple domestic roles to influence the overthrow of power, and women’s right to speak has the meaning of social participation and a challenge to power. Furthermore, it shows the ideal image of a male-female community and the anthropological idea of symmetry.